Mom honors teen son lost to suicide with tattoo

Thursday marks two years since Peyton James, 13, took his own life after his family says he was bullied at school.

Author:
Christy Millweard

Published:
6:15 PM CDT October 13, 2016

Thursday marks two years since Peyton James, 13, took his own life after his family says he was bullied at school.

"The last two years have been horrific, it's not something anyone should ever have to go through,” said Jacki James, Peyton's mom.

Peyton liked to read and play video games, and for Jacki his suicide is still hard to digest.

"It's kind of surreal, I still think that it's not real, but I know that it is,” she said.

To honor her son on the second anniversary of his death, Jacki went to Gully Cat Tattoo to honor him.

"Cats were Peyton's thing, he wanted to be a vet that specialized in cats, so I thought 'Okay, this is the perfect place to go,'” Jacki said.

With each stroke of the ink, Jacki James solidifies a public display of the love she will always have for Peyton. A custom design, her tattoo says "I carry your heart' - as she carries her son's memory.

She already has one tattoo of Peyton's signature.

While these tattoos are her personal way to honor her son, Jacki also wants to help other children. Shortly after Peyton's death, she created the organization Kindness Matters.

"Just trying to reach as many kids as possible,” said Jacki.

In her words, she wants to show kids they can be nice to each other, and still be cool.

"A lot of them relate to Peyton, and a lot of them unfortunately relate to his bully,” Jacki said.

Each time the organization impacts a child, she feels it's Peyton working through her.

"It's hard to believe it's been two years since I saw him,” said Jacki.

But she knows he's with her every day.

If you want to learn more about Kindness Matters, or have an anti-bullying presentation at your school, GO HERE.